Treatment Programs continued

A successful treatment program will engage and motivate clients to participate in sustainable recovery activities instead of just lecturing on the critical nature of these activities to continue their recovery process. The treatment facility should be the program’s feature, not an after thought handled in the room next door to the kitchen. Staff should include a Clinical Director that has a Ph.D. and a Medical Director that has an M.D. along with qualified addictions counselors that the clients will respect. We encourage callers to ask who is actually going to be with your loved one on a daily basis and what activities are scheduled for them.

We have heard experiences like the following one from a mom about her daughter’s treatment program far too often. “During the entire month our daughter only saw the credentialed people pictured on the internet once or twice. She hardly left her residence because that’s also where all the clients were crammed together for one group after another run by entry level staff, eating carbohydrate rich school cafeteria type food, gaining too much weight, pacing around within the same four walls, with only the occasional outside 12-step meeting. It’s no wonder my daughter did not relapse. Watching TV and eating was the alternative to smoking cigarettes to pass the time in between groups."

“Our family was in crises with my daughters’ addiction. We attended alanon family support meetings and read books on addiction. Our family was ready to do our part and follow direction. We knew our daughter needed to go to rehab. We liked the idea of all the professional staff helping her and the one-on-on attention. The pictures of the staff and the facility looked great on the internet but this was not our experience.”